Michael Bisping fires back at the smack-talkers: Hardy, Cote, Sonnen

For one reason or another, Michael “The Count” Bisping (19-3) has long been a lighting rod for criticism and trash talk. In an interview with U.K. website MirrorTKO published last Friday, Bisping became a one man firing squad and one-by-one popped off retaliatory shots in the direction of some of his recent critics.
First target up was fellow Brit, Dan Hardy. It’s one thing to take criticism from an American or a Canadian, but apparently Hardy broke the Brit bro code and made some comments that didn’t sit well with “The Count.”

“To see it from some of the UK guys pisses me off. I’ve been a proud ambassador of UK MMA, I’ve worked hard and I’ve helped grow the sport to where it is. I haven’t disappeared off to America, like some Mohican wearing people and lived there and trained there, but then come back here and pretend I’m English.

“My roots are here in England and I stay here and I train here and I’m proud to be English. You know, I don’t go training in America because the trainings better, but then come here and try and get all the UK fans on my side. I’m English and this is where I’m from and this is where I train”.

Next target: Patrick Cote. Cote was recently quoted by Fighters Only magazine as saying he didn’t like Bisping, thought he was “arrogant” and “overrated” and wanted to fight him.

Well, that’s not very nice. Especially coming from a guy who hasn’t won a fight in over two years (of course he’s only had one fight in two years), but understandably Bisping took offense to this. He says that Cote doesn’t deserve a fight with him and needs to concentrate on just winning any fight at this point. Oh yeah, he also called Cote a piece of shit.

“Patrick Cote is a piece of (expletive*). I’ve met Patrick Cote a couple of times. I’ve always found him to be okay, we’ve shook hands and I’ve had no issue with Patrick Cote and then out of the blue, he’s talking (expletive**) about me.

“He’s just trying to make himself relevant again and he’s trying to talk himself into a fight with me, which I’m not going to oblige. I know I’m talking about him now because you asked, but I’ve just distanced it. I think I’m above Patrick Cote and he’s beneath me. He needs to stop talking (expletive) about me and get his arse in the gym and try and win a fight.”

Finally, Bisping comments on something middleweight contender Chael Sonnen recently said on an episode of ESPN’s MMA Live. Sonnen said that if Bisping ever addresses him again in public, “he will bury him where he stands.”

That’s pretty harsh. Bisping admits Sonnen has looked good recently in the cage and he has enjoyed the entertainment value of his trash talk over the last few months, but now that it’s directed at him, it’s not so funny. Bisping calls him delusional and says he would love to fight him.

“Recently, he’s looking phenomenal. I mean, (in) his last three fights he’s been very dominating and he’s been great. I think personally he’s a bit of a tool to be honest. Okay, he’s great at what he does and I’ve definitely laughed my arse off at some of his comments. I think he’s great, he’s awesome at promoting a fight, he really is, but he’s delusional and he’s so far up his own arse it’s unbelievable”.

“I’d love to fight Chael Sonnen. He said on MMA Live that if I ever address him in public again that he’ll bury me where I stand. It’s big words and I take offence. I mean I’m laughing now, but he’s got a cheek to go on international television and say that.

“That’s basically threatening me. He’s not saying he’ll fight me in the cage, but he said he’s going to bury me where I stand, which obviously, I take issue with ever so slightly. But whatever, leave him to it”.

A fight between Hardy and Bisping will likely never happen due to their weight differences. However, a match-up between Cote and Bisping could possibly happen, and would probably be very competitive. Cote would likely need to put together a couple wins first before Bisping deems him worthy.

The pre-fight trash talk in a Sonnen vs. Bisping fight sounds highly entertaining and could reach unprecedented levels. Bisping’s biggest challenge would be dealing with Sonnen’s wrestling. First things first though; Bisping has a tough fight against a sexy man next month and Chael Sonnen has a giant arachnid to deal with.

On a side note: Aside from fighting and training for Akiyama, Bisping was cast as a bad guy in “Hollyoaks”, a long-running British serial drama (soap-opera) centered around a group of young adults attending the fictional Hollyoaks Community College (British more mature version of Beverly Hills 90210?). Bisping said he’s a fighter first but really enjoys acting and wants to continue with that too.

* – That “expletive” in there means “shit” if you couldn’t figure that out.

Cote has won two fights in a row over Starnes and Todd Brown. Has not looked impressive. He is now set to face crafton wallace( 18-5-1)on October 7th.

About Jack Bratcher

Founder and Editor of Pro MMA Now (www.prommanow.com) and staff writer at ADCC (www.adcombat.com). My all-time favorite TV show is The Sopranos and the first book I ever bought was on Astral Projection. I still occasionally roll around on a skateboard and play Xbox One. Reach me at prommanow@gmail.com or on Twitter at @PROMMA.